Fans wait to buy tickets before the opening day baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
The Value of the Braves
Forbes magazine is all about financial concerns – even in the sports world. They compile an annual list of the values of sports franchises and their new list has been released.
According to Forbes, the Atlanta Braves are the 12th most-valuable baseball franchise, worth $1.150 billion. This is consistent with a staggering leap in the valuations of nearly all clubs over just the past year. In the case of the Braves, Forbes’ estimates that the Braves’ value has risen 58% since 2014. That percentage by itself is huge, but is merely pedestrian when compared to several other teams:
- Giants: up 100%
- Nationals: up 83%
- Cardinals: up 71%
- Mets: up 69%
- Angels: up 68%
Forbes cites these figures for Atlanta:
- $267 million in revenue
- $33.2 million in “Operating Income”
- 0% Debt/Value ratio
That latter number has already changed, given that Liberty Media has entered into a substantial line of credit to support stadium construction while awaiting the final court inquiries into the pending Cobb County bonds.
A few more interesting tidbits from the Forbes piece, none of which is confirmed by the club:
- Gate Receipts: $58m. Based on attendance figures, that amounts to $716,049 per game, $24.64 per person (note this would include parking, concessions, etc.) and $1995.52 per fan for the year if you attended every game and spent “average” money.
- Wins-to-player-cost ratio: 94. “Average” would be 100.
- Price paid for the franchise: $400 million (2007)
- Championships: 3 (Boston in 1914, Milwaukee in 1957, Atlanta in 1995 – only MLB franchise to have World Series titles in 3 cities)